Top 5 Fantasy/Scifi Movies That Took Themselves WAY Too Seriously

Here at Mindhut we believe that most things can benefit from a touch of comedy and lightheartedness. Think about it: most of our favorite stories (even the dark, brooding ones) contain elements of humor. There are probably some deep rooted psychological and biological reasons why the entire history of drama and the arts contains a fair share of chuckles, but we settle with knowing that its just plain darn fun to laugh! This got us to thinking about which sci-fi and fantasy movies could have benefited from a touch more fun?

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Don’t get us wrong, this movie is worth watching, and critically acclaimed to boot. But there is a reason that Star Wars, that other space opera released around the same time, went on to become a touchstone for successive generations of Masterminds. We think that reason is humor! Star Wars didn’t try to be anything other than pure, unashamed adventure in space—and that resonated with viewers. Not to mention the fact that it takes an entire half hour to get to the first piece of dialogue.

2. The Matrix: Revolutions
The first one had Keanu Reeves saying "Whoa", the second one had two albino brothers with dreadlocks who did kung fu, but the third Matrix film drank too much of its own Koolaid. The trilogy was like a giant game of philosophical Jenga—it kept stacking up random bits of quantum mechanics, string theory, and every single world religion. In Revolutions the whole tower falls over.

3. Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace
There is such a thing as taking yourself so seriously that you don't end up taking yourself seriously at all. This happened in The Phantom Menace. George Lucas and Co. were so confident in the Star Wars universe that they thought they could touch anything and it would turn to gold. This is why we had completely ridiculous things like Jar Jar Binks and Pod Racing presented to us with a straight face.

4. V for Vendetta
Clearly, it takes either bravery or lunacy to describe a movie with a caped crusader wearing a plastic Guy Fawkes mask and spouting quotes from Errol Flynn movies as "taking itself too seriously." Don't look at us like we're crazy though—we loved this movie too! But it still makes our list for spending time on overt political propaganda which could have been used on swordfights.

5. Underworld
We looooove vampires. Especially the traditional variety, that are more likely to kill you than become your boyfriend (>cough< Twilight >cough<). But the Underworld series would have been better if it had taken itself a little less seriously. Take the lighting, for example. We know that Vampires prefer the dark. But consistently those movies are shot in such bottom-of-the-bottomless-pit blackness that it's nigh on impossible to actually see any of that sweet, sweet bloodsucking action!

What awesome science fiction/fantasy movie do you love, but wish had taken itself less seriously?

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About the Author

Tim Wainwright writes about monsters, sexual ethics, and public sector employee pension reform--and sometimes other things. You can follow him on twitter @Tim_Wainwright , because he has a strange desire to have people read the things he writes. He is growing to accept the fact that people will always call him "bud", and that he will never pull off the cowboy hat look.